Keep Calm & Quilt on...or "Quilt it Forward w/ Aurifil thread"

 Hey quilter's...hope your week is off to a great start. Don't kill me but Christmas is not that far off...I know...where has this year gone? I'm normally craming my projects til the very last minute and believe me that will never happen again. I guess my "misshap" has a valuable meaning behind it "make each day more precious then the last." So on the "make" note inspired my Christmas designs for all of next year. If anything...I'll be happy playing with Christmas fabric all year while drinking coffee. What more could we ask for plus we wont be going crazy at the last minute finishing gifts. Or will we ??? :-) Sometimes I feel that I get a "Christmas adrenaline  rush doing that last minute stuff." Crazy,,,I know. Well as you're finishing your projects make sure you set aside your "Christmas Scraps" (hint) for my next years Quilt-a-long. We will definitely have "less-stress-quilting in 2022."

In the meantime, I've been trying to come up with some clever gift ideas due to not making my gifts. So I've gone through some of my "quilt things" and "fabric things" and decided to "Quilt it Forward" with gifts. No I'm not going to give my UFO's although that would be a great idea...wink wink. I decided that I can "talk about how wonderful Aurifil thread is" or share a spool of it with someone that's just beginning to learn to quilt. I have a sweet neighbor that has just started to get back into sewing and is interested in quilting so thought well that's a perfect gift for her. I also had to laugh 'cause I was showing her a trick on threading her machine and I asked for a scrap piece of fabric and she told me "she doesn't have any." Ok...first of all I laughed so hard 'cause I've never met anyone that didn't have "scraps of fabric" then secondly I stated well then you haven't been following my blog on using your scraps/stash piles. So definitely she'll get some "scraps" to go along with her Aurifil thread. I love teaching the "quilting bug" to someone else :-)

Sometimes it is the "little things" that can make someone happy. Maybe you're like me and can't finish a handmade gift for whatever reason so "quilt-it-forward" instead. It will definitely show them how much you thought about them while putting their gift together. 

I can't promise you that I wont be craming at the end of next year but I will definately try. So keep Calm & Quilt on or relax and Quilt it Forward w/ Aurifil thread & notions. Whatever you decide just remember to enjoy every minute you can. Check back for some more less-stress-Quilting-Christmas gifts :-)

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Scrapin' w/ Cat Quilt-a-long "Cookie Cutter Christmas" Border/Binding/Quilting

 Hey quilter's....well here's the grand finale as they say. Due to my circumstances I will be "walking" or "blogging" with you the instructions to finish this sweet Christmas gift. Life can throw you an unexpected curve but while recently watching a "Hallmark Christmas movie," I heard this quote...."it's how you deal with your circumstances truly shows who you are". Boy did that hit home. My family might be getting I owe you's but I've decided that's not so bad and now trying to come up with some clever gift ideas that aren't costly to open for presents. This is truly making me think out of the "box" :-)

Well by now you've looked at your design and thought what was she thinking or you've come up with your own clever spin for your bording/backing. One thing I do love is a easy border. This one is easy but you could totally omit the strips and just do a easy "chunky border" as I like to call it....basically a solid strip to your desired width...just remember to press and square up as you go. Like I alway's say...it's your quilt..have fun with it and remember...less stress quilting :-)

Here's all you do...

First border strips (1/2") rotary cut 2 strips 1" x 45 1/2 and sew to left/right side of runner. Press/trim if needed.

Then rotary cut 2 strips 1" x 11.5 and sew to top/bottom of runner. Press/trim if needed.

Second border strips (3/4") rotary cut 2 strips 1 1/4 " x 46 1/2" and dew to left/ride side of runner. Press/trim if needed. 

Then rotary cut 2 strips 1 1/4" x 12 1/2 and sew to top/bottom. Press/trim if needed.

Third border strips (1") rotary cut 2 strips 1 1/2" x 48" and sew to left/right side of runner. Press/trim if needed. 

Then rotary cut 2 strips 1 1/2 x 15" and sew to top/bottom of runner. Press/trim if needed.

Tip...due to the length of your strips you will need to piece your long strips to achieve the length. Depending on your scrap choice try to match up your pattern when piecing together or use a solid piece to make it easier. 

After it's pressed and squared up do your desired binding technique or do my easy one below.

*Make your third border a larger width (about 2 1/2" wide) and when it's pieced together on all four sides then you "wrap" your quilt front to your backing fabric and fold under about an inch to give a finished hem on the back side. Try to still leave about an 1" border on front of runner to still achieve the "randome border design" You can quilt in the ditch making sure you catch the back seam or quilt by hand on the back. I do this method with most of my designs...less stress quilting :-)

Rotary cut your batting/backing to fit your front size of runner. 

Lay your backing fabric (wrong side facing you)

Batting

Then your top pieced quilt facing you. Pin together as desired or use clips.

Quilt in the ditch or do some outline quilting around the snowflakes. Remember...it's your design...have fun!

Thanks again for your continued following of my designs. I am excited that this coming year I'll be showing a very "unique" twist on an old classic design of "crazy quilting." This year has been different for us all and I've used my "downtime" to come up with some unique patterns. Praying that next year is great for us all but in the meantime keep following....I've come up with some fun "gift-giving" ideas for the Holiday's. Maybe we can all inspire one to start the "quilting bug" by gifting forward :-)

XO, Cat

"Cats Cookie Cutter Christmas" Runner Cont.

 Hey quilter's....hope all is going well. I'm finally going to briefly wrap up my quilt-a-long. First of all thank you for the prayers. This is not the time to get hurt or anytime actually. Unfortunately Mrs. Claus is going to have some I owe you's this Christmas which is not me. I alway's love to make my Christmas gifts and yes most of the time I'm finishing up at the last minute. Needless to say....my "unexpected trip" aka the craziest fall ever has taught me a valuable lesson. But here's the funny....I did try to sew on "pain meds" but I could not sit at my sewing machine due to the pain in my ribs. The other funny is I messed up my measuring of strips, and yes I mean I rotary cut all my strips between standing and sitting. I then realized that you should never do math on pain meds. When you see block below you'll see what I did and then had to do because of my wonderful math. So then the "advanced block" was born. Yes....my own block design did not measure to a 5.5 x 5.5 square due to me cutting all my strip widths wrong. Again....never should you do math on pain meds. I seriously cried....then I thought calm down this is not the first time you messed up (not on pain meds) :-) so figure it out. The funny thought was I actually told myself...well at least this time you had an excuse for your stupid mistake. So I decided to add a solid strip on each side of my block...then coming out to the exact 5 1/2 square that I should have in the first place. If y'all know me by now I'm going to turn a negative into a positive....due to my crazy mistake I ended up using more of my "scrap fabric"....win...win...afterall :-) But because of all this craziest that is when I decided I was in too much pain and to take it easy and follow doctors orders. Serveral weeks later I'm still sensitive in that area of ribs but getting better. I'm able to sit down longer without half the pain. What a journey this has been and lessoned learned. :-)

Well in case you've patiently waited for me to "finally return" to the quilting world.....here is the rest of the quilt-a-long. I did love some of the comments that we're told that my design was so easy and they figured it out on their own. Actually that made me so happy 'cause that's what I'm all about....a fun way of quilting and less stress quilting. :-)

Steps for the "strip 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 block

Please note the pic below is the "advanced step" with my "mishap" of my strips being 1 1/2 wide and with the sold strips added at each side of block...

*Rotary cut your scrap pieces to be 1.75 wide by the desired length of your strips adding in your 1/4" seam allowance on each strip piece. 

Ex. first row is (2) 2 1/2 in scrap strips so you would cut 2 strips ea @ 1.75 x 3" to for a finished strip of 1.75 X 5.5....this is all with your 1/4" seam allowance. 

Second row....(1) @ 1,75 x 2 and (1) @ 1.75 x 4....

Third row....(1) @ 1,75 x 1 1/2 and (1) @ 1.75 x 4 1/2

Fourth row...(1) @ 1.75 x 2 1/4 and (1) @ 1.75 x 3.75

Sew trips together and finger press as you go. Then sew your strips together starting with left side first and finger press each strip or iron if desired. You will end up with a finished square of 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 which allows for your seam allowance when sewing blocks together to end up with your finished 5" blocks. (see pic)

Tip....if you decide above method is a bit much....remember my theory is "less stress quilting" so just rotary cut your fabric strips 1.75 x 5 1/2. Just remember to randomy piece your stash fabric pieces to give it still that "scrappy design" :-)

Advanced tip...do same method as above but with a seam with of 1.5 and add a solid strip of 1.5 x 5.5 on each end of block...you will have 6 strip pieces in total that you will be piecing together (see pic)

Once you have completed your scrappy blocks then I reccomend laying out all your finished blocks to make sure you have the design that you like. Remember this is your quilt...I just try to inspire you along the way :-) Follow my pattern/design or get creative and piece blocks together as you wish. 

When you have all your block pieces sewn together. Then do a final press/measure to see if you need to "square up" any side seams. When you are using your "scrap/stash" pieces you might get a stretch depending on how it was cut so no worries...just "square up." One reason that I love mixing a pieced block next to a solid block. Then "nobody" knows you "tweaked" along the way except "us" :-)

Now you can do your borders and binding as you wish...my easy Log Cabin Method is coming up next.

Thanks again for your prayers.

XO, Cat

Update..."Step Stool & a Trip was not in the plan" :-(

 Hey quilter's...hope all is going well. I "normally" am going nuts this time of year. Getting ready for the Holiday's and loving Hallmark Christmas movies. But unfortunaltely about 6 wks ago now I decided to take an "unexpected trip," I was making my mother-in-law's home "safe" for her to get around when she was coming home from her "stay" in the hospital and I didn't "see" her "step stool" as I went around a corner. Oh my goodness...at my age or any age that is not a "trip" anyone should do. I pulled my muscles around my ribs and was having trouble sitting,,,walking...doing about anything. Much less sitting at my sewing machine. So needless to say I'm just now getting back to the "quilt-a-long." Thank you for the sweet emails and I have learned a valuable lesson in all this...I will now be Christmas Quilting all year just in case I decide to take another "trip" and get behind on my Christmas gifts. Sometimes you just need to laugh and be "thankful" that I didn't break any bones. Well check back this week to continue the quilt-a-long and don't be suprised this coming year if you see "Christmas all year in 2022" :-)

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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